Where Did the Name "Dotty" Come from for the Bar-Casino Chain?

Re your QoD about why Dotty's and PTs don't have to have 200 rooms. As a tourist, I haven't a clue what a Dotty's or PTs is. Are they some sort of a small casino?

And

Dotty's casinos are all over Las Vegas valley. Is there a Dotty who owns the chain or is the namesake of it? If not, where did the name Dotty come from?

Richard Esty, founder and chairman of Dotty’s parent company, Nevada Restaurant Services, came up with the name "Dotty's" in the mid-1990s. He did a study of his demographic target base – women aged 35 and older – to find out what names resonated best with them. "Betty" ranked second and "Dorothy" came in tops. Shorten "Dorothy" to "Dotty" and a strip-mall gambling franchise was born.

According to the company website, the name is meant to " invoke your grandmother's kitchen."

Dotty's and PTs are chains of bars with mostly restricted gambling licenses, meaning 15 machines or less and no table games.

Dotty’s was founded in Oregon in 1991 and debuted in Nevada in 1995. It now has around 175 locations in Nevada, Oregon, and Montana and is gaining a foothold in Illinois, land of video lottery terminals. Nevada Restaurant Services also owns and operates a major slot route in Nevada, plus some hotels and other hospitality enterprises in Montana.

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Donzack Apr-19-2021

Popular name

I recall reading that the name Dorothy was picked as it was the most popular baby name of that year. And Dotty was short for Dorothy.

Dave_Miller_DJTB Apr-19-2021

Revenue

I seem to recall that restricted licenses are supposed to earn at least 51% non-slot revenue, and that Dotty's in particular doesn’t even come close. 

Were they grandfathered in for some reason, or am I mistaken?

Kevin Lewis Apr-19-2021

Casino gambling's basement

I always thought that the name was because so many of its customers are dotty. But whoever Dotty is, she smokes like a chimney. The couple of times I stuck my head in the place, I seriously wondered if smoking was mandatory. It only evokes my grandma's kitchen to the extent that she used to burn a lot of stuff.

Brent Peterson Apr-19-2021

Dave Miller

Check the archives for that answer. It was a QOD within the last few weeks or month, I believe.

Jxs Apr-19-2021

Illinois

Illinois does not have any Video Lottery Terminals like you’d find at some Indian casinos. They’re all Class III machines just like in Vegas, not the ones based on bingo. This includes the machines in bars and restaurants - Class III, and there are a lot of them- 39,000 throughout the state, not including casinos.

Ray Apr-19-2021

Echo Jxs

Yes, the video slots in Illinois are definitely NOT what the connotation of "video lottery terminals" implies. They are, as Kxs said, class III slots, all multigame machines and many of them have video poker games as some of the choices. There are more than 30 Dottys in the Chicago area, more than a dozen in central IL and who knows how many more. We also have Bettys, Pennys and many other names (mostly women). The slot houses are allowed  up to 6 machines (up from 5 a couple of years ago), and they must sell beer and wine to get a license. And any town can choose to not allow places to have them. The law originally was to help bars and restaurants in the state, but stand alone places like Dotty's jumped in and leased out strip mall space. You can hardly turn a corner without passing a slot joint.

LVNow Apr-19-2021

LVNow

Can you give us a link to the "company website" that was quoted? I haven't been able to find it. Thanks.

Question of the Day - 19 April 2021

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